Personnel Today
  • OHW+
  • Resources
    • Clinical governance
    • Disability
    • Ergonomics
    • Health surveillance
    • OH employment law
    • OH service delivery
    • Research
    • Return to work and rehabilitation
    • Sickness absence management
    • Wellbeing and health promotion
  • Conditions
    • Mental health
    • Musculoskeletal disorders
    • Blood pressure
    • Cancer
    • Cardiac
    • Dementia
    • Diabetes
    • Respiratory
    • Stroke
  • CPD
  • Webinars
  • Jobs
  • Personnel Today

Register
Log in
Personnel Today
  • OHW+
  • Resources
    • Clinical governance
    • Disability
    • Ergonomics
    • Health surveillance
    • OH employment law
    • OH service delivery
    • Research
    • Return to work and rehabilitation
    • Sickness absence management
    • Wellbeing and health promotion
  • Conditions
    • Mental health
    • Musculoskeletal disorders
    • Blood pressure
    • Cancer
    • Cardiac
    • Dementia
    • Diabetes
    • Respiratory
    • Stroke
  • CPD
  • Webinars
  • Jobs
  • Personnel Today

WellbeingOccupational HealthOpinion

Devil’s advocate: DWP and the riddle of the missing numbers

by Dr Richard Preece 1 Dec 2008
by Dr Richard Preece 1 Dec 2008

Practising occupational health is like reading crime fiction: as you investigate health issues, you’re never quite sure who did it until the final pages.


There’s no better time than the summer to sit down with a good book to solve the latest mystery. This summer’s hot new release for would-be OH investigators was by one of our favourite authors, the Department for Work and Pensions. Intriguingly titled No-One Written Off, readers might wonder to what this refers. Turning page one is like boarding the Orient Express or a river boat on the Nile. Exactly who’s not being written off?


It’s not most Incapacity Benefit claimants who are being ‘written off’. In the UK, we’ve managed to almost quadruple their number in the past 30 years – we have 2.6 million and rising. The aim is to get less than half of these back to work (by some indeterminate date in the future). At the current rate of reduction (140,000 in five years), it will take about 35 years to hit this target. It also means that we’ll still have more than twice the number of claimants as there were 30 years ago.


It’s not those absent from work due to illness who are being ‘written off’. They may get a new certificate. However, despite the fact that the latest debates on this have been running for at least a few years, there won’t be consultation on this until later this year. So absentees are only being ‘written off’ for the time being.


As the OH story unfolds in chapter three, new threads are introduced to hold the reader’s attention.


Apparently, “action planning is a proven technique to… help employers consider the steps they can take to enable an employee to make a swifter return to work.” Is action planning a “proven technique” in our efforts to reduce sickness absence or even plan a return to work? Any evidence is omitted. But, like any good work of literature, it is important that we don’t let scientific facts reduce our enjoyment of the creative fantasy.


The presence of Job Centre Plus advisers in GP surgeries is being expanded. So far, these advisers have only had 500 referrals each year (out of a potential pool of 2.6 million). But like any good work of fiction, it is important not to let the overwhelming implausibility of success reduce our enjoyment of the story.


Sign up to our weekly round-up of HR news and guidance

Receive the Personnel Today Direct e-newsletter every Wednesday

OptOut
This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

There are other threads for the avid reader to pursue, such as who are the steering group of specialists that Dame Carol is leading to develop a National Strategy for Mental Health and Employment? But the biggest mystery of all happens to be the simplest: what happened to consultation question 19? Although the government has provided 29 questions to aid consultation, question 19 has mysteriously disappeared. It seems from its position, it would have related to some aspect of Dame Carol’s report. But perhaps it referred to a legendary elixir of working life. Perhaps we will find out in the sequel. And perhaps we will never know.


Consultation runs until 22 October. No-one may have been written off, but a 19 has. Now there’s a real mystery to get your teeth into this autumn.

Dr Richard Preece

previous post
Eye safety: For your eyes only
next post
Ockey Elf: Why won’t Gordon let us look after ourselves?

You may also like

Third in north west fear ill health will...

2 Jul 2025

Welfare cuts would ‘undermine workforce inclusion and business...

27 Jun 2025

Supporting employees through substance abuse

24 Jun 2025

One in four young workers rate mental health...

17 Jun 2025

Workplace disputes: ‘Most employment tribunals could be avoided’

12 Jun 2025

CIPD Festival of Work: ‘Wellbeing is not an...

11 Jun 2025

How employers can support cancer carers better

11 Jun 2025

Two-thirds of workers still struggling to access GPs...

10 Jun 2025

Employers must offer more flexibility to working carers,...

9 Jun 2025

CIPD: A quarter feel work has negative impact...

9 Jun 2025

  • Empowering working parents and productivity during the summer holidays SPONSORED | Businesses play a...Read more
  • AI is here. Your workforce should be ready. SPONSORED | From content creation...Read more

PERSONNEL TODAY

About us
Contact us
Browse all HR topics
Email newsletters
Content feeds
Cookies policy
Privacy policy
Terms and conditions

JOBS

Personnel Today Jobs
Post a job
Why advertise with us?

EVENTS & PRODUCTS

The Personnel Today Awards
The RAD Awards
Employee Benefits
Forum for Expatriate Management
OHW+
Whatmedia

ADVERTISING & PR

Advertising opportunities
Features list 2025

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • Linkedin


© 2011 - 2025 DVV Media International Ltd

Personnel Today
  • OHW+
  • Resources
    • Clinical governance
    • Disability
    • Ergonomics
    • Health surveillance
    • OH employment law
    • OH service delivery
    • Research
    • Return to work and rehabilitation
    • Sickness absence management
    • Wellbeing and health promotion
  • Conditions
    • Mental health
    • Musculoskeletal disorders
    • Blood pressure
    • Cancer
    • Cardiac
    • Dementia
    • Diabetes
    • Respiratory
    • Stroke
  • CPD
  • Webinars
  • Jobs
  • Personnel Today